Category Archives: US economy

Judge blocks Georgia DA from investigating ‘fake elector’ in setback for Trump inquiry – as it happened

Posted on by

Dan Cox, an extremist pro-Trump Republican, won his party’s nomination for governor in Maryland last week thanks to “collusion between Trump and the national Democrats”, the current Republican governor said.

“I don’t think there’s any chance that [Cox] can win,” Larry Hogan added, speaking to CNN’s State of the Union.

Continue reading...

US adds 372,000 jobs in June as growth exceeds expectations

Posted on by

US unemployment rate held steady at 3.6%, labor department said, as jobs report indicated resilience

The US economy added 372,000 jobs in June, an indicator of resilience despite signs of slowing economic growth.

The jobs reports is seen as a key indicator on whether high inflation – and central bank efforts to tame it with interest rates rises – is beginning to bite down on the wider American economy.

Continue reading...

FBI and MI5 leaders give unprecedented joint warning on Chinese spying

Posted on by

Christopher Wray joins Ken McCallum in London, calling Beijing the ‘biggest long-term threat to economic security’

The head of the FBI and the leader of Britain’s domestic intelligence agency have delivered an unprecedented joint address raising fresh alarm about the Chinese government, warning business leaders that Beijing is determined to steal their technology for competitive gain.

In a speech at MI5’s London headquarters intended as a show of western solidarity, Christopher Wray, the FBI director, stood alongside the MI5 director general, Ken McCallum. Wray reaffirmed longstanding concerns about economic espionage and hacking operations by China, as well as the Chinese government’s efforts to stifle dissent abroad.

Continue reading...

January 6 hearings outlined ‘inner workings of political coup in service of Trump’, panel chair says – as it happened

Posted on by

Committee ends fifth hearing, with next sessions expected in July

Gun rights have been in the news for weeks following two shocking mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York — a fact that has not escaped the supreme court.

In his concurrence with the majority opinion, conservative justice Samuel Alito connects the latter shooting with the concealed weapons regulation that the court struck down. “Will a person bent on carrying out a mass shooting be stopped if he knows that it is illegal to carry a handgun outside the home? And how does the dissent account for the fact that one of the mass shootings near the top of its list took place in Buffalo? The New York law at issue in this case obviously did not stop that perpetrator,” wrote Alito, who was also the author of the draft opinion overturning abortion rights that leaked in May.

Continue reading...

Holiday travel adds pressure to stressed industry as more US flights canceled

Posted on by

Airlines, reeling from pilot and staff shortages and the effects of bad weather, have interrupted 19,000 flights since Thursday

The confluence of two holidays, Father’s Day and Juneteenth, and a season of “revenge travel” continued to heap pressure on the already stretched airline industry as 4,200 additional US flights were delayed and 900 canceled on Sunday, pushing the total number of flights interrupted since Thursday to 19,000.

Delta was hit hardest, with 6% of its total flights on Sunday cancelled. A further 200 flights were cancelled early Monday.

Continue reading...

US travelers face new wave of chaos as flight cancellations continue

Posted on by

1,000 flights cancelled Sunday after approximately 14,000 flights were cancelled or delayed on Friday and Saturday

Travelers were subjected to a new wave of flight chaos across the US on Sunday, with about 1,000 flights cancelled. The toll added to about 14,000 flights within, out of, or into the US that were cancelled or delayed on Friday and Saturday.

Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta was one of the worst hit airports – the facility saw passengers stranded over the weekend as Delta cancelled or changed dozens of scheduled flights.

Continue reading...

Federal Reserve announces biggest interest rate hike since 1994

Posted on by

Fed confirms 0.75 percentage-point increase as Americans across country hit hard by rising prices and shortages of key items

With soaring inflation and the shadow of recession hanging over the United States, the Federal Reserve announced a 0.75 percentage-point increase in interest rates on Wednesday – the largest hike since 1994.

Until this week the Fed had been expected to announce a smaller increase. At a press conference, the Fed chair, Jerome Powell, said the central bank decided that a larger hike was needed after recent economic news, including last week’s announcement that inflation had risen to a 40-year high.

Continue reading...

Abortion and gun decisions loom as US supreme court releases more opinions – live

Posted on by

A special election in south Texas last night ended with bad news for Democrats when the district chose a Republican to represent it in the House of Representatives for the first time. But as Victoria Bekiempis reports, the victor Mayra Flores will face a stiffer challenge in November, when she must stand for her seat once more.

A south Texas congressional district will be represented by a Republican for the first time following a special election Tuesday. The election of Mayra Flores, who bested her Democrat competitor in a 51%-43% vote, comes as Republicans continue to make inroads among Latino voters in south Texas.

Continue reading...

Markets brace for sharpest rise in US interest rates in almost 30 years

Posted on by

Federal Reserve expected to increase cost of borrowing by 0.75 percentage points to curb rising inflation

The world’s financial markets are bracing themselves for the sharpest rise in US interest rates in almost 30 years, as America’s central bank takes action to halt rising inflation.

After days of frenzied investor speculation and signs of growing central bank anxiety, the Federal Reserve is expected to increase the official cost of borrowing by 0.75 percentage points for the first time since 1994.

Continue reading...

Global markets plunge as Fed mulls biggest rate rise in decades

Posted on by

US investors fret about possible recession as S&P 500 plummets into bear territory and global markets feel aftershocks

Fears about a possible recession have pounded stock markets around the world amid reports that US Federal Reserve could raise interest rates by as much as 0.75% this week – its biggest single hike in borrowing costs for nearly 30 years.

As Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index fell almost 4% on Monday into bear territory, prompting selloffs from Sydney to Shanghai, US central bank policy makers will begin a two-day meeting on Tuesday with expectations mounting that they will lift rates by at least 0.50%.

Continue reading...

US gas prices rise to a record $5 a gallon but Biden hedges on Saudi Arabia visit

Posted on by

Ukraine war and oil company price gouging among factors contributing to surge as president mulls Riyadh rapprochement

US gasoline prices, a key driver of the highest inflation seen in the US in 40 years, hit a record $5 a gallon on Saturday. There was little to suggest they would drop anytime soon but, also on Saturday, Joe Biden said he had “not yet” decided if he will travel to Saudi Arabia, a week after opening the door to a possible trip.

Any such visit would be aimed at bolstering relations with the country at a time when Biden is trying to find ways to lower gasoline prices.

Continue reading...

Climate crisis is ‘battering our economy’ and driving inflation, new book says

Posted on by

Climatenomics lays out how ‘supply chain disruptions’ has become a euphemism for the effects of climate change

Forget Ukraine, coronavirus, corporate greed and “supply chain issues”, when it comes to inflation the climate crisis is the real, lasting, worry, according to a new book, and one that’s only likely to get worse.

Climatenomics, by former White House reporter and director of Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2) Bob Keefe, is a narrative account of how the climate crisis is fundamentally altering not just the US but global economies.

Continue reading...

Goodie bag to promote US industry contained ‘Made in China’ gifts

Posted on by

President Joe Biden and Google chief Sundar Pichai among attendees offered free bag at development summit

A swag bag dished out by the American chamber of commerce to promote US industry at an international summit wasn’t quite on message – with some gifts bearing the slogan “Made in China”.

Delegates and attendees at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles this week have been plied with all manner of freebies and samples from various groups wanting to push their agenda.

Continue reading...

Global supply chain crisis fuels push to local manufacturing as China’s appeal dims

Posted on by

Analysis: US to examine with fresh urgency easing reliance on China as pandemic disruptions expose global economic vulnerabilities

Everyone has a story to tell about the supply chain problems that have affected the global economy, from the beginning of the pandemic through to the disruption caused by the war in Ukraine. From shortages of Ikea furniture and Christmas turkeys, to the dearth of computer chips that sent the cost of secondhand cars soaring, the dislocation of a once smooth-running system has caused havoc in the global economy.

But while predictions about the easing of bottlenecks have come and gone without any improvement, it has become clear the disruptions of the past two years or more are spurring fundamental changes to the world economy that could have yet more profound impacts on our lives.

Continue reading...

US inflation rate slows but remains close to 40-year high

Posted on by

Consumer price index reveals costs rising by a monthly rate of 0.3% in April, down from 1.2% in March, the first fall since August 2021

Price rises slowed in the US in April but the annual inflation rate remained close to a 40-year high, leaving many Americans struggling to afford necessities including food, shelter and fuel.

The latest consumer price index (CPI) figures – which measure a broad range of goods and services – showed prices rising by a monthly rate of 0.3% in April, down from 1.2% in March, the first fall since August 2021.

Continue reading...

US stocks see worst day this year as Fed rate hike rattles investors

Posted on by

Dow falls 3.1% a day after the Fed chair announces biggest hike in two decades to combat inflation

US stock markets suffered their worst day of the year on Thursday as investors worried about the Federal Reserve’s plans to raise interest rates to tackle soaring inflation.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost over 1,000 points (3.1%). The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite fell 3.5% and 4.9% respectively. Tech stocks were particularly hard-hit, with Amazon dropping 7.6% and Tesla falling 8.3%.

Continue reading...

Democrats fear soaring inflation could bring midterm election losses – live

Posted on by

Democrats warn president to fix inflation or say goodbye to control of Congress as wholesale prices surge record 11.2% in March

The federal mask mandate for travelers will be extended by a further two weeks as the government assesses the recent uptick in Covid-19 cases across the US, multiple news sources are reporting.

An official announcement from the centers for disease control and prevention (CDC) is expected shortly, according to the Associated Press and others.

Continue reading...

Biden targets America’s wealthiest with proposed minimum tax on billionaires

Posted on by

Tax on households over $100m aims to ensure wealthiest Americans no longer pay lower rate than teachers and firefighters

Joe Biden proposed a new tax on America’s richest households when he unveiled his latest budget on Monday.

The Biden administration wants to impose a 20% minimum tax on households worth more than $100m. The proposal would raise more than $360bn over the next decade and “would make sure that the wealthiest Americans no longer pay a tax rate lower than teachers and firefighters”, according to a factsheet released by the White House.

Continue reading...

Biden to announce tax on billionaires in 2023 budget plan – report

Posted on by

President’s ‘tax on richest 700 Americans’ may face opposition from conservative Democrats

Joe Biden is set to announce a tax aimed at US billionaires as part of his 2023 budget plans on Monday in a move that will likely delight many progressives in his party but could meet opposition from conservative Democrats who have already stymied his domestic agenda.

The Washington Post, citing five sources and an internal administration document, said the “billionaire minimum income tax” plan would establish a 20% minimum tax rate on all American households worth more than $100m.

Continue reading...

US jobless claims fall to lowest level since 1969 as states float rebate checks

Posted on by

Claims dropped by 28,000 for week ending 19 March as at least a dozen states consider checks to ease burden of inflation

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week fell to its lowest level in 52 years as the US job market continues to show strength in the midst of rising costs and the pandemic.

Jobless claims fell by 28,000 to 187,000 for the week ending 19 March, the lowest since September of 1969, the labor department reported on Thursday. First-time applications for jobless aid generally track the pace of layoffs.

Continue reading...